5 things you did not know about Jackie Shroff

Jackie Shroff's journey from Jaikishan Kakubhai Shroff to Jaggu dada and then to Jackie Shroff is nothing less than the script of a typical Bollywood masala film. Jackie Shroff's father was a well known astrologer and while Jackie was still a little boy, his father had predicted huge stardom for his son.
On a chat show with Simi Garewal, Jackie spoke about the lesser known facts of his life one of them being how he turned from Jaikishan Kakubhai to Jaggu Dada. He said, "My brother was the real Jaggu Dada of our chawl. He used to take care of our slum people, look after them when in need. But at a very young age, unfortunately my brother jumped into the sea to save someone. And my brother did not know swimming so he also started drowning. I threw a cable line at him, he held onto it, was floating for few seconds but the cable slipped out of his hands. I was young and scared and I stood there watching him drown. After him, I decided I had to look after my slum people just like he does and then I turned into Jaggu dada."

Jackie Shroff who always had an inclination for style and cooking, tried his luck at Taj as a chef apprentice. Jackie Shroff is a good cook and his 'baigan ka bhartha' is famous among Bollywood stars. But Taj rejected him as he fell short of the degrees they wanted. After this, Jackie tried hi luck at Air India for the post of flight attendant, but there again he was rejected for falling short of the minimum qualifications. Then one fine day while he was waiting for his bus at a bus stop, a man walked upto him and asked 'modelling karega?'. Jackie who was not earning that time quickly asked, 'paisa dega kya' and from this moment his journey towards stardom began.

Jackie Shroff's better half, Ayesha belonged to a royal family. Jackie and Ayesha saw each other for the first time when Ayesha was just 13. She was travelling by a bus in her school uniform and what caught Jackie's attention was her long legs. Ayesha was attracted to Jackie the moment she saw him. When the bus stopped Jackie told her his name and asked hers. Jackie told her that he was going to the record shop and from there on this love story began. Ayesha who had always led a luxurious life was in awe of Jackie. As Jackie was not earning much at that time they both used to window shop, walk a lot, sit on top of the double decker bus and take a tour of the city every evening.

Jackie was already in love with a girl when he met Ayesha. When Ayesha professed her love for Jackie, he revealed that there was already a girl in his life, who had gone to the US to complete her course and they were to get married once she came back. Ayesha asked Jackie to let her write a letter to his girlfriend in the US that they both could get married to Jackie and live together. Ayesha shared the reason for such unbelievable gesture. She said, "I had no option I could either lose him or I had the option of keeping him with her, and I chose the latter."

In the same interview on being asked who changed for whom, Jackie said he changed himself for Ayesha. He said, "For me she was like a Goddess who had graced my life with her presence. I changed myself for her. Though she came to live with me in my chawl, later I decided I had to change myself for her, look presentable while meeting her friends and so I polished myself a little more." While Ayesha said, "I was very superficial earlier, he has taught me to be more caring about other people."